Battlefield
by Thireven
Summary: I met the group and vowed to help them when they saved my life. Liitle did I know that would mean that I would be thrown into a war that might end up killing us all. Now I'll have to help save my friends, and myself. That is, if I can distract myself from my crush long enough. One-sided pairing, teenage angst. [This is not about me (the author).]
1. Chapter 1

I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters in it. Sorry for any OOCness~

* * *

I sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, my hands gripping my knees as I looked up at Rick, who was standing across from me with his arms folded. He and Glenn were going back and forth with each other, and I was afraid that I would have to split up the oncoming argument. Ever since that incident with The Governor, Glenn had become a bit of an asshole. I understood why, but did that really give him a dime of a reason to try to take over as leader? I personally thought that Rick was a fine leader, even with his current troubles.

I noticed Carl walking towards me while he held his little sister, Judith-as known as Little Asskicker-in his arms. I stretched out my legs and pushed myself to my feet. I held out my arms, and he placed the baby in my arms. I held her gently as gently poked in her stomach. A wide smile spread across my face as she giggled.

I barely noticed when Daryl stopped to stand beside me. I was far too focused on seeing Judith laugh that I was startled to hear Daryl say, "You're pretty good with her." After nearly jumping out of my skin, I turned to look at him, a heavy and noticeable blush on my face.

"You think so?" I asked, brushing a lock of brown hair from in front of my face. I smiled slightly, watching as Judith tried to grab my finger.

_She's getting stronger and stronger every single day. I don't know why, but I'm very proud of her._

"I used to have two nieces, you know. Took care of them all the time, watched them…" I trailed off after the realization of what I had just said sunk it. I felt myself slowly slipping into that old depression of mine.

Daryl knew me well. He gently punched my arm.

"Don't do that," I said, frowning at him.

"Why not?"

"I'm holding a baby, Daryl."

I looked up at him, only to see a smirk across his face. For a moment I stared at him, and then I glared and looked away with a shake of my head.

"You're an ass."

"I know."

He adjusted his crossbow, which he had put on his right shoulder, and nodded at me before he finally walked off.

I tickled Judith, running my finger across her ribs. She giggled loudly, and Rick must've noticed-he shut up for a moment to look over towards us, his eyes focused on the baby. He turned away from Glenn, who shook his head. Rick took a few steps towards me and I held Judith out. He took her after hesitating for a moment.

He held her as if he was worried that he would drop her.

All the same, I felt happy seeing him holding her.

My thoughts drifted. After Lori had died, Rick hadn't been the same. He had become a changed man. I hadn't been in very good shape afterwards, either. To Lori, I had become an adopted daughter, even if I was just a bit too old to actually be her daughter, being fifteen. She had joked around with me and acted like I really was her daughter. While she could never have replaced my mom, she had become like a big sister to me. Her death had affected us all pretty badly, but out of all of us, Rick had been the hardest hit. I found out that he had snapped when I happened to witness one of his so called "phone calls". I hadn't mentioned anything to him, but the one person I had said something to was Daryl. I made him promise me he wouldn't talk to Rick about it, and even though he said he wouldn't he still felt the need to "mention" it to Rick. Ever since then, Rick hadn't been in as bad of shape, but I knew he saw things. Things he probably didn't need to see.

But in the end it didn't matter. As long as he kept his position as leader, everything would be fine.

I noticed Judith grinning up at Rick, a giggle escaping from her lips as he looked down at her.

"Little Asskicker is laughing at you," I stated, smiling.

Rick glanced up to look at me, a slightly confused look on his face. For a moment I wondered if he didn't understand the fact that I had just said Judith was laughing at him.

"What?"

"Little Asskicker is laughing at you," I repeated. "She must think you're awfully funny lookin'."

"Since when did you call her that?" He asked.

I glanced around to see if Daryl was anywhere around, but no such luck. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.

"I started calling her that when Daryl started calling her that."

"Daryl calls her that?"

By then I had silently wished that Daryl would just tell Rick why he gave Judith that nickname, but, of course, I had to be the one to do the explaining. I let out a puff of air as I looked back up at Rick.

"It's just a nickname for her," I said, before smirking slightly.

Oh yes, I had thought of the perfect thing to say.

"Daryl thinks that she's going to grow up to be like him."

"Not in his life," Rick grumbled under his breath.

It was then that I remembered the fact that we needed more supplies. I looked at Rick as I folded my arms, my mood suddenly turning southward. "We're gonna have to make a run soon. We're running low on supplies. Barely any food. And you know that no one but me will touch that canned spinach."

Rick looked down at baby Judith, his face hardening.

Whatever thoughts went through his head were probably thoughts I didn't want to know.

Glenn finally rejoined us, clearing his throat as he looked at Rick.

"Rick, you'd better decide who's going on the run."

"I'm gonna go," I said, turning around. I kneeled and began searching through my stuff for what I wanted to bring with me. "Me, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie. Just us four, in, out, and we'll have food in no time."

"We can't let her go on the run," Glenn said, looking at Rick.

"I'm gonna go whether you want me to or not. I can handle myself perfectly fine and you know that," I replied, shoving my pistol into its holder. I strapped it onto my belt and reached down to do the same with my machete sheath. "And don't use Judith as an excuse. Beth can handle her perfectly fine."

"Just let the girl go."

Over near the cell block door, Michonne stood there with her back to it and her arms folded.

"See? She agrees with me," I said, pulling up my belt and tightening it. "I know what you're thinking, but I'll be fine. If you want, Maggie can stay and someone else can go with us."

"That's not what I'm worrying about."

"I know it's not."

I looked up at Glenn, jerking my arm as I finished tightening my belt. The look on my face must've told him that I wasn't going to listen to a word he said, because he shut up and looked away from me.

"Alright, fine," Glenn muttered.

"What I'm worrying about is that we'll be gone for awhile," I said, grabbing my bag and flinging it over my shoulder. "The closest town that isn't completely dry is two days away from here, four days counting the trip back. Is it really safe to have almost half of us gone?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," Glenn said.

"Maybe we should just all go," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

Glenn looked at me.

"You know what? Come on, let's get all pile in the truck and go!"

I stalked off, huffing.

* * *

"Tell me again why I'm doing this," Rick said loudly, his hands clutching the steering wheel tightly, his eyes focused forward on the road. I sat behind Daryl on the motorcycle, my head turned so that I could look at Rick with a large smile.

"How would I know? I was being sarcastic," I replied, before chuckling. "Though you probably knew it was a _genius _idea since I _am_ the smartest member of the group."

"Yeah right," Daryl muttered. I frowned and gently hit him on the back in retaliation.

"At least we know that the others will be safe because we'll be around to protect them," I huffed. "Who knows what could happen if we were gone for four whole days."

"That's surprising' to hear from you."

"Oh, shut up, you jerk."

"I still don't like this. We'll have to stop for the night to rest," Rick said, swallowing.

"Then we'll just have a lookout. If someone sees walkers, they wake up the others and we go," I replied. "Try not to over think this, Rick. You'll burst your head open."

"Ain't that impossible?" Daryl asked.

"_Isn't. _But yeah, it basically is impossible."

I smirked.

"I'm going to bore you to death before anyone else can kill you," I said, laughing slightly.

"Damn right you are."

I shook my head. "I'll stay up for the night and make sure no walkers come here us."

"I'll take first watch," Daryl said, glancing over his shoulder at me for a moment.

"Come on Daryl, you're terrible when you're sleepy. You'd be better for second watch. I'll just wake you up if I get tired. Deal?"

"…Fine."

I don't know how many hours we actually drove, but by the time Rick decided that it was okay to stop, it was getting dark out as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon. I hopped off the motorcycle and was pulling out my pistol to check the ammo by the time that Daryl began to climb off. I pulled out the clip, checked it, and shoved it back in. After Rick, Daryl, and Carl settled into the car, I climbed onto the roof of the car. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity, my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs, holding my gun in my right hand. My eyes started to try and close when I heard a slightly noise, one loud enough to draw my attention and cause me to wake up a bit. I slid off the roof of the car and walked over to the motorcycle, where my machete was. I gripped the handle tightly and slid it out of its sheath.

I took a few steps forward, my eyes locking onto the walker that was stumbling forward out of the woods, trying to get to me. I snorted quietly and raised my machete. With a quick swing, I cut through the walker's head just above its eyes. It crumpled to the ground noisily and I winced, sheathing my machete. It must've been pretty loud, because Daryl shot up so fast that he hit the side of the door and started cussing because of it. I turned to look back at him. His cussing woke up Rick and Carl, and I sighed as he opened up the car door and stepped out. He looked over the car at me and then spotted the walker on the ground. I shrugged.

"It was just one walker."

I paused.

"Though I'm dead tired."

"Go get in the car," Daryl said, dragging his crossbow out of the car from the floor board.

He raised up the crossbow and began to walk around the car as I rolled my eyes, annoyed. I headed towards the passenger seat anyways. I had no reason not to sleep right then anyways.

But right as I turned to get into the car, something grabbed my arm. I yelped and looked at the thing before shoving my other arm against its throat to keep it from biting me. Rick was almost out of the car, but Daryl turned around and nailed the thing right in the head without so much as grazing me with the arrow. The walker's grip on my arm vanish and it fell to the ground with a thud.

"Holy shit," I muttered, letting out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I rubbed where it had grabbed me. No scratches-good. It seemed I wouldn't be turning anytime soon.

Hopefully.

"Get in the car, now," Daryl said.

I looked back at him.

"Yes, mom," I grumbled, climbing into the car and slamming the door shut. I was asleep almost immediately.

* * *

"You know, when you're worried, you're cute," I said, giggling.

"What?"

I was riding behind Daryl on the motorcycle once again, my arms wrapped around his stomach. He was driving so fast that I thought my face would've ripped off if I road with him any longer. He turned the handlebars and we slid in front of the car, which was being driven by Glenn now. I loved riding on the motorcycle-though I had to practically beg Daryl to let me ride, because he wanted me to ride in the car. Of course I knew that it was just an excuse for him to ride alone. I wouldn't have it.

"Hey, aren't we going a tad bit too fast?" I asked loudly. Daryl smirked and I glowered. "I'll take that as a yes!"

"Want me to go faster?"

"No!" I shouted. My hair had already been flipping around like crazy and getting in my face. He didn't need to any faster.

I was half-asleep with my head against Daryl's back when we finally rolled into town. He barely moved and I snapped my head up, wide awake.

"We there?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I yawned loudly.

"Yeah," Daryl grunted. I slid off of the motorcycle and stretched.

"So who's sleeping where?" I asked, stretching.

I, of course, ended up sleeping in the truck. Hershel and Maggie, the latter holding Judith, slept in the car with Beth and Carol. While I was in the cab, with Carl, the rest of the group opted to rest in truck bed. Even when the others began to fall asleep, I was awake. I fell asleep for a little bit, but it didn't last long-I woke up a few minutes later. I leaned back in the seat and looked out the window. Only three of us stayed awake-Daryl, Rick, and I.

I narrowed my eyes a bit and slowly reached for the door handle. I grabbed my machete and tried to quietly push the door open-which didn't work as well as I had wanted it to. I stepped out of the truck, spun my machete around, and closed the door.

"Hey, where ya goin'?" Daryl asked. I turned to look back at him and put my finger to my lips.

"Walkers. I'm just gonna take care of the ones nearby," I mouthed.

I walked off, giving Daryl no time to argue with me. I headed towards a group of houses, twirled my machete around, and then stabbed the walker closest to me through the head.

After killing a few more walkers, I headed back over to the truck. I decided not to get back into the truck, just so I didn't wake anyone up. It didn't matter in the end, since the sun had started to come peek up from the horizon. So, I just stood there while the others started waking up.

I started thinking about the time that we-Daryl, Rick, Glenn, and I-had gone on a run. We took the truck and while Glenn and Daryl slept in the cab, I was in the back with Rick, who, for once, actually went to sleep. That night had been like hell for me, especially after Rick kicked me in the face while he was asleep. I didn't even know the man could move so much when he was sleeping in a bed, let alone when sleeping in the back of the truck. My nose was bleeding for ten minutes afterwards and by the time the others woke up I hurt and I felt dizzy. I cleaned up the blood but my nose was cracked pretty bad.

I remember Daryl once telling me not to think too much. Too bad that was what I was best at.

* * *

We decided to have Carol and Glenn stay with Hershel and Maggie, since they need to look out for the baby.

So it ended up as Rick, Michonne, Carl, Daryl, and I.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of-where should we look first?" I asked. "I was thinking that Daryl and I check out some of the houses, see if there's any canned food left anywhere."

"We'll check the stores," Rick grunted.

"Okay. Let's go," I said, looking at Daryl with a grin. He rolled his eyes at me.

I entered the house to my left, kicking in the door. I raised up my pistol as I checked for signs of any walkers. I walked into the living room and paused for a moment. My eyes caught a walker as it began to stand up behind the couch. A gunshot to the head and it fell back down onto the floor. I opened another door and closed it again when a walker tried to rush me. I locked the door with a huff and headed down a hallway.

I stepped into the kitchen. Daryl wasn't far behind me. I lowered my gun and hurried over to the cabinets. I opened them up and searched through it, finding two cans of corn (yuck), a can of cinnamon oatmeal, and a few others. Daryl hadn't found anything from the look on his face, so I showed him the six cans I had before I shoved them into the bag I was carrying.

We checked out a few other houses all well-we managed to find a few more cans, dried milk, and a few things of baby formula, which I thanked the stars for. After sticking the stuff in the truck, I decided to go check out a flea market building not far from where we were.

"Why are we checkin' this place out?" Daryl asked.

"You didn't have to come," I pointed out.

"Yeah I did. Someone has to keep you from doing something stupid."

"Uh-huh. Anyways, I came in here because flea markets usually carry some pretty handy stuff. Knives, swords…stuff like matches and fire starters," I said. "I've been to places like this before."

I dashed through the building as quickly as I could, scanning each section with little interest. Daryl followed behind me, watching my back. We hadn't encountered any walkers when I found the knife display and I hoped we wouldn't run into any soon. I jumped over the case and landed behind it. I slid the glass door open and grabbed a few of the larger knifes. I turned around to look at the wall behind it and grinned as I spotted a sword hanging from a hook. I grabbed it, slid it into the scabbard, and slid the strap onto my shoulder.

"Ready to go when you are," I said, turning around. I frowned and jumped over the case again, looking around.

"Daryl?" I called out.

I stepped out into the hallway, ready to go look for him in case, but I stopped as soon as I passed the wall that had been obscuring my view.

"Amanda, get back!" Daryl snapped. He was pointing his crossbow at a black-haired woman who was pointing a shotgun right back at him. "Go!"

"Holy shit," I muttered, staring at the woman. I felt myself laugh and I pushed Daryl out of the way so that I could wrapped my arms around her. She looked down at me, surprised, but hugged me back anyways.

"How long has it been?" I asked, looking up at her with a smile.

"Too long," she answered, rubbing my back.

"This your mom?" Daryl asked, nodding towards her.

"Who is he?" Mom asked in a low whisper. I knew what she was thinking, and I made sure I was standing between her and Daryl.

"This is Daryl, mom. Him and his friends have been looking after me for awhile now," I answered. "You could say that he's like a big brother to me."

The blush on my face said otherwise.

"What're you gonna do now?"

I looked at Daryl.

"So you've been taking care of Amanda for me," mom said, looking at him as she judged him. "Thank you."

"Mom, before you decide anything," I said, glancing at Daryl before clearing my throat, "I want you to meet the others."

"How many 'others' are there?" She asked.

I counted on my fingers as I mumbled names. "About eight, including a baby."

"A baby?"

"Little Asskicker," Daryl said. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Her name's Judith. Rick's little girl," I answered. "Can we, uh, just go…?"

After walking out of the flea market, we went back to the house. I opened the door and motioned mom inside before I closed the door, spotting a few walkers as I did so. I locked the door and then followed after Daryl and mom. I knew that the others wouldn't be very comfortable around someone they didn't know, but they would adjust. They always did.

I walked into the living room and yawned slightly.

"Don't worry guys. This happens to be my mom," I said, looking at her. "And since she doesn't know anyone of you and you don't know her, let me start the introduction. Mom, this is Glenn."

I pointed over to Korean. He nodded his head at her but didn't say anything. I turned my attention to the others, who were sitting on the two couches.

"The woman holding baby Judith is Maggie."

Maggie waved slightly.

"She's Carol."

Carol smiled.

"And he's Hershel. He's kinda like the medic of the group."

"Nice to meet you," Hershel said.

Rick and the others came into the room right at that time. I stiffened up when I noticed that same cautious look that was always on Rick's face.

"She's my mom!" I shouted before he could say anything. I swallowed. "She's already met everyone else."

Rick seemed to look her over before he nodded.

I sighed and motioned to the others. "This scraggy looking man is Rick. He's kinda the leader of the group-not that I ever really listened to him…Michonne here is great with swords. Carl, well, he's Rick's son and kinda like an adopted little brother to me."

Mom nodded, mostly to herself, as I looked up at Rick. He nodded, mostly to himself, though he was eyeing mom carefully.

"What's your name?"

"Call me Sandy," my mom answered.


	2. Prologue: Part 1

_Sometimes I couldn't help but look back to that one little fateful encounter that day in the woods._

_**Hershel's Farm**_

Damn, I was stupid.

I ran down the highway with my machete, a whole damn horde of those things on my tail. I looked back and began to slow down when one of those freaks almost grabbed the hood of my black hoodie, and then I took off full force.

I stopped and glanced up at the nearest tree to me. Tall, thick branches.

Not the best choice of my life, but I started to climb.

After climbing about seven feet up into the tree, just high enough to keep away from the walkers and be on a thick branch, I relaxed a bit. I thought to myself that I couldn't stay up there forever, though. My fear of falling had begun to get to me.

I took out my gun.

And started shooting.

I don't know how many I killed. I just knew I killed a lot of them.

I went down the tree and headed down the highway again. _Can't stay on the highway forever, _I thought to myself, so I turned to head into the forest.

I never noticed the car.

I never noticed the broken fender.

All I knew was that when I had turned, a sharp pain bloomed from my side as I felt my skin part from something sharp. Blood dripped down my side and I hissed in pain. While it took some effort to pull off my hoodie and avoid running into a tree, I eventually got it and wrapped it around my waist before tightly tying the sleeves together. I winced, the stabbing pain getting to me. At least the wound wasn't fatal.

_That is, if I don't bleed out._

I just kept trudging on after that, walking through the woods with a drunkard, not knowing where I was going and only following my hazy senses.

I stumbled and felt my foot catch on something. I had no time to react-I slammed into the ground and rolled into the small trickling stream. I groaned and flipped onto my left side, allowing my injured right side to remain pressure free. I felt the blood flowing slowly down the skin on my stomach. My hoodie hadn't worked as well as I had wanted it to as a way to stop the bleeding.

I felt dizzy.

When I heard noise, I tried to look up, only to lower my head and flip onto my back.

"To hell with it," I muttered under my breath.

I laid there for a while more.

Then I became aggravated.

With a grunt of effort, I pushed myself to my feet and tightened my hoodie. Then I followed the stream.

"_Shhh, you hear that?"_

"_Yeah. Think it's a walker?"_

The word was cursed. As I glanced slightly to my right, a walker, which I hadn't heard, lunged for me. I reached down at record speed and whipped out my giant knife. With a quick stab through the head, it crumpled to the ground. I shakily placed the knife back into the sheath on my thigh. When I glanced down at my hands, they were shaking badly.

I leaned against the tree nearest to me and reached for the gun that was safely tucked into my pants behind my back. I needed only one shot. The thought of killing someone made me sick. I had been taught to never kill another living thing. Let alone two humans.

A wave of pain hit me and I crouched, grabbing my side and I grunted in pain. That sound, combined with the sound of the leaves moving because of my feet, alerted the two people to my position. I was compromised. Last thing I needed.

The cut on my side bled more and more. Hiding never had never mattered.

I slowly stood. Footsteps neared as the two people came closer and began to come around the tree. A few seconds…

I pulled the sleeves of my hoodie loose and took it off. I lifted up my shirt and looked at the cut. My hoodie and shirt were soaked. It never had helped. How much blood had I lost, stumbling through the woods like an idiot?

I stumbled and fell over onto my left side. I looked up to see two men hovering over me, pointing their guns at me.

"That's not a bite." I hardly heard the voice.

Everything went black.

* * *

When I woke back up, I was lying in a bed looking up at the ceiling. I blinked, trying to get rid of the drowsiness.

"Where the hell?" I muttered. Wincing, I sat up.

The room I was in was pretty plain when compared to other rooms I had crashed in previously. A nightstand was settled beside the left side of the bed. A dresser was pushed against the right wall. The rest of the details were of no use. I simply looked down at the blanket covering my legs and sighed.

The door opened just then. A girl, about my age, maybe a little older, stood there in the doorway, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She just stared at me before leaning her head out of the door into the hallway.

"Daddy! She's awake!"

She walked into the room and headed up to the bed.

"How're you feeling?" She asked, looking at the bandages that peeked out from the white shirt that had been put on me. I followed her gaze and frowned, eyes locking onto the red blotch soaked into them.

"Kinda…uh…woozy," I said, placing a hand to my head as I winced. Not a total lie, since I felt somewhat dizzy. Disoriented. "How'd I get here? I figured for sure those two guys would've shot me."

"You're lucky," she replied, smiling. "Rick and Shane found you out there and brought you back here after they found out you weren't bit." She paused for a moment, as if in thought. Then, "I'm Beth."

"Amanda," I muttered, returning her smile.

Just then an older man walked into the room, a towel in his hand as he dried his hands. He had short white hair and a slightly wrinkled face, but his expression spoke concern and friendliness. Friendliness that had been pushed a bit too far.

"I'm surprised you can sit up with a cut like that," he said, placing the towel on the nightstand beside the bed.

"It wasn't a deep cut. A fourth of an inch at best, if even that," I muttered, staring at the wall while rubbing my side.

"You bled quite a bit. How long did you have that wound, and how did you get it?" He asked.

"Was getting chased by a small group of walkers. Got cut on a broken fender while trying to get into the woods. Was a while after that when those two guys found me. That was before I blacked out." I paused. "Rick and Shane, was it? I'd like to thank them."

I pulled the blanket off of my legs.

"You need to rest." He looked like he was about to push me back down onto the bed.

"No thanks. I've been through worse. I wanna meet those two guys," I said in response, persistence in my voice.

I stood up, wobbled a bit, and then straightened up. I smiled.

"See? Nothing at all."

I dashed around him before he could object, that same look on his face as everyone who thought they were right. I chuckled as I looked into the room, my smile wide. I walked down the hallway, rubbing my side again. It did sting, but not as badly as before. Eventually I found the front door and swung it open. I shielded my eyes from the sun.

I stared, looking at the expanse of the beautiful farm. I walked down the steps, subconsciously pulling down my shirt, and turned my head to look at the other side. I had seen farms before, but this one took the cake.

I noticed a bit of a camp not too far out from the house. An RV was parked around a few trees, with tents pitched up around it and a very small fire nearby. A little ways away, another tent was pitched up by its lonesome. I wondered if it was a good idea to go over there, but I shrugged and headed that way anyway.

When I got closer, I noticed a young boy wearing a sheriff's hat. I smiled again. He turned his head ever so slightly, and then caught sight of me from the corner of his eyes. He looked over at me, and I saw his dark hair and ever so slightly tanned skin. In the back of my head, I went over the facts. Younger than me by three or four years.

I stopped dead in my tracks and waved a bit, trying to be friendly- which I wasn't used to.

He snuck away from the group and walked up to me. I was surprised. He was short, even compared to me, and I was short for my age.

"You're that girl dad and Shane found," he said, looking me over. He had no doubt in his answer.

"Yeah, the same girl who got bit by a _werewolf_. Better watch out, I'll turn you into a werewolf too." I snarled in emphasis and raised up my hands. "Rawr."

"I'll get a stake!" He shot back quickly, a confident look on his face.

"That's for vampires. Silver is for werewolves," I corrected, raising a hand. I mimicked a

"Oh. Really?" He asked.

"Yeah. Stakes and garlic are for vampires." I reached over and plucked the sheriff's hat off of his head. "This your dad's?"

He grabbed it back and put it on his head. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I guessed," I answered. "So, Rick your dad? Think I could meet him? I wanna thank him and that Shane guy."

I paused.

"Hey, do you trust me?" I asked suddenly. "It'd be a shame if you didn't, you're a pretty funny lookin' kid."

"Hey! I am not!" He said indignantly.

"Sorry kiddo. Can I meet your friends?"

I nodded towards the group.

"Yeah. Come on, stay with me. Wouldn't want anyone jumping you," he said, holding his head up high.

"Oh, that would be terrible! Hurting a little lady like _me_," I said, holding up my hands and acting scared. He laughed.

He walked over to the little camp, and I just trailed behind him a bit. I caught up with him a moment later and walked beside him.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Carl. Yours?"

"You had call me Agent Amanda," I said. He cracked a smile at me.

"You got a last name?"

"Not anymore. You?"

"Grimes."

"Pfffft."

He shot me a small glare and I covered my mouth to hide my grin. He walked up to a woman who had long, black hair. She was sitting on a chair taking to another woman whose hair was short and almost grey looking. The first woman looked up at Carl and was startled to see me.

"Don't worry ma'am, I haven't done anything to the kiddo," I said. I smiled. "Besides threaten to make him a werewolf."

She relaxed a bit.

"Mom, this is Amanda. Do you know where dad is?" Carl asked.

"Oh, you're his mom?" I questioned.

"Name's Lori," she said. "You're father and the others went out looking."

"Well, I guess that thanks if gonna have to wait," I muttered. I looked at the other woman.

"This is Carol," Carl said, motioning to her.

"It's nice to meet you," Carol said. I took a seat on the ground beside her and relaxed.

"Aww, ground's as nice feeling as I remember it being." I leaned back.

Carl suddenly stuck his head in front of my face.

I raised up my hand and shoved him away.

"Did you eat candy or are you always hyper?" I asked.

"He ate some Twinkies that we found the other day," Lori said, trying to hide a smile.

I looked at her and felt a pang in my chest.

"Carl, looks like you've got a fine mother," I said, sitting up.

"Where's your mom at?" He asked.

I froze, my muscles tensing. I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a deep breath. I shuddered, remembering the day that she and I had gotten separated. Curiosity killed the cat.

"Carl, hun, go play," Lori said, noticing the look on my face. "Go."

"Alright…"

He went off and I looked at Lori gratefully.

I turned my head, noticing two figures walk out of the woods side by side. I tried to stand up, but my side disagreed with me and I gave up with a huff of aggravation. I tried again, and successfully stood this time.

"I heard you had quite a bit of stuff with you when they found you," Lori remarked.

"Some food. Guns. Machete. Just enough stuff to travel to the nearest town," I replied, shrugging. "Been on my own for awhile now. Weeks, I think."

The two men walked into the little camp and split off. The man walking towards us had short, messy black hair that stuck to his face from sweat. I could see Carl's resemblance to him.

"You must be Carl's dad," I said, looking at him as he glanced at me. "Rick, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah," he said, setting down the shotgun he had been holding.

"I wanna say thanks and all for, you know, not shooting me in the head. Most people would've," I said. "So, um…yeah. Thanks."

"Carl made a new friend," Lori stated, looking at Rick. "Seems he and Amanda get along well."

"Threatened to turn him into a werewolf, that I did," I answered with a grin. "Speaking of Carl, where'd he go?"

"Right here!"

I turned around and nearly slapped him. I stopped and then got him into a headlock, digging my knuckles into his head.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop!"

"No one sneaks up on me," I said, grinning evilly. "Ya got that?"

"Yeah, let me go!"

I did and he rubbed his head.

Rick watched the entire time. I gave Carl and gently tap on the arm.

"Hey, Carl. What's tall, pale, and sweaty?" I asked.

He shrugged. "What?"

"Your dad," I whispered into his ear.

He actually cracked a grin while looking at his dad. Rick raised an eyebrow.

"What's short, skinny, and funny lookin'? You!"

I moved before he could grab me.

I looked up at Rick. "Do you trust me?"

"Can't say that I do yet," he answered with a gruff voice. "But I'll think about it if you keep Carl preoccupied."

"Yes sir!" I replied.

"Heyyyy," Carl whined.

"Hey yourself, short stuff," I said, waving him off with a smirk.

"I'm not short!" He shouted indignantly.

"So who was the old guy in the house?" I asked, glancing at Lori.

"His name's Hershel," Carl answered.

"Helped my son," Lori added.

"Ah. I probably should've thanked him too, for taking care of me," I muttered, folding my arms. I had always hated having to thank people, and since the world had ended… "I'll thank him later. For now, do you guys have anything to eat?"


End file.
